Miscellaneous
Police arrest main accused in 33kg gold haul
Police have nabbed the main accused in the 33kg gold smuggling case.Nepal Police in coordination with Dubai police arrested Rajan Prasad Panta from the Tribhuvan International Airport on Monday, Meera Chaudhary, spokesperson for the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), said.Police have nabbed the main accused in the 33kg gold smuggling case.
Nepal Police in coordination with Dubai police arrested Rajan Prasad Panta from the Tribhuvan International Airport on Monday, Meera Chaudhary, spokesperson for the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), said.
The CIB of Nepal Police on January 5 had confiscated 33kg gold from the TIA that had passed undetected through the customs.
The CIB has claimed that Panth has long been involved in gold smuggling.
He was detained soon after he landed at the TIA from Dubai.
Earlier, police had arrested Gopal Bahadur Shahi, Dil Bandu Thapa and Santosh Kafle.
Shahi was detained on January 5 when he was about to get into a cab at the main gate of TIA with the precious metal.
The CIB later arrested Thapa of Morang and Kafle Shahi of Dhanusha. The duo had reached the airport to receive the gold.
The Department of Customs had suspended six officials stationed at the TIA for “abetting the smugglers”.
The department had also idled as many as 29 officials deployed at the airport, suspecting their role in abetting the smugglers.
Nine other official were removed from the airport on January 14. On January 18, Nepal Police had summoned SSP Shyam Khatri, who was stationed at the TIA, to the headquarters as part of its investigation into gold smuggling. He was found guilty of helping the smugglers.
The confiscated gold includes 244 biscuits, 18 chains and 11 rings.
According to a CIB report, Rajendra Kumar Shakya, Malika Bajracharya Shakya, Ram Krishna Goyal, Kusum Goyal, Bibhuti Amol Bhalchandra and Pramod Shrestha had “placed an order” for the gold.